One in two Indian Muslims fears being falsely accused in terrorism cases, finds study

A survey by NGO Common Cause and Lokniti shows Adivasis are most afraid of being framed for Maoist activities, while Dalits are afraid of being falsely accused of petty thefts.

New Delhi: The sense of being discriminated against by police is strongest among Muslims, especially those in Bihar, said a study that seeks to analyse the perception about police along state and community lines.

The survey was carried out by NGO Common Cause and Lokniti, a research initiative of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), among 15,563 respondents across 22 states in June and July 2017.

“Among the total number of respondents, 26 per cent of Muslims were of the view that police discriminated on the basis of religion, while less than 18 per cent of Hindus and 16 per cent of Sikhs thought the same,” the report added.

The researchers also discovered that as many as 44 per cent of Indians were fearful of being beaten up by police, a finding reported by ThePrint Monday in the first of its series of reports on the study.

According to the survey, over 47 per cent of Muslims across the country said they feared being falsely accused of terrorist activities. Trying to explain the perception, the researchers cited the “large proportion” of Muslims in the country’s jails. This sentiment was said to be most widely prevalent in Telangana.

The percentage of Muslims in jails is higher than the community’s share in the population of India, a fact, critics said, that stems from an alleged “systemic bias” against them.

The 2011 census pegged the Muslim population at 14.23 per cent; and, in 2014, the government told Rajya Sabha that people from the community comprised 16.68 per cent of convicts and 21.05 per cent of undertrials.

What Adivasis and Dalits fear

The report suggested a similar fear among the Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis) and the Scheduled Castes (Dalits). According to the survey, 27 per cent of the Adivasis said they feared being framed for anti-state Maoist activities, while 35 per cent of Dalits held a similar fear regarding petty thefts.

“Nearly two in every five… respondents said police falsely implicated members of backward castes such as Dalits in petty crimes including theft, robbery, dacoity,” the report said.

“One in four… was of the opinion that such a false implication of Adivasis and Muslims did occur,” it added.

The results of the survey also suggested a perception that caste-based discrimination among police personnel was most prevalent in Bihar, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

It said people were more likely to report class-based discriminatory attitudes of police, followed by gender- and caste-based discrimination.

5 COMMENTS

The population of India is 135.4 crores aprox.
You claim to do a study among merely 15,000 respondants. That is approx 0.001% of the total population. And u put up a headline stating 1 in 2 muslim feels something. I mean, how desperate are you? You should be ashamed of your articles.

Vibudha LK. Correct, so what should be the minimum sample size for such deduction? Coming from a research background, for prevalence estimation, a’g to any widely understood formula for sample size calculation like 4pq/lsquare, the sample size seems more than enough.

I don’t know whether you have a science background or not but if you are demanding a sample bigger than this then you should also stop believing in clinical trials and modern medicine. All of them are conducted in a far lesser population than this, because the criteria should be at least minimum sample size not any magic number that one considers important by virtue of experience etc.

I am sorry I am not using my real name because I don’t want to be abused and trolled, I am too old for that. Probably you wouldn’t, but many do. Please ask for clarification if you want to know further about the same.

I’m sorry if you were trolled or abused. Everyone experience that at one or the other point in their life including me. And, you make a good point. But the thing is, a research in Chemistry or Medicine is a totally diff ball game. A person in UK or US can be tested for medicinal purpose and the same medicine can be use in other parts of the world. But thats not the same thing here right. What I feel is not the same as what you feel. Two people coming from the same background, with the same education and bringing up, will feel differently about different topics. Hence, you can’t, and I stress it, you simply cannot put up a headline saying 1 in 2 Indian Muslims, jus because you claim that you have interviewed some 0.001% of the population. Because each individual has a different feeling. You cannot generalise it. All you achieve in doing so is creating fear and incepting your own opinions in people’s mind. Which is so wrong on so many levels. Hope you get my point.